TSROTRATBP Chapter 21

Though invitations were delivered to herbivore beastmen, most inevitably declined. Though fellow beastmen, they instinctively felt uncomfortable around predators.

Thus naturally, herbivore beastmen connected with herbivore beastmen, predator beastmen with predator beastmen.

Thanks to being an herbivore beastman myself, just hearing words like lion or bear gave me shivers.

"Occasionally hyena clan nobles also attend."

'This, this isn't right.'

The more explanation I heard, the more absolutely unsuitable this ball was for me. Quickly escaping Ulpes's hands, I attempted escape by running across the bed. Completely unaware of such feelings, Ulpes clapped his hands satisfactorily.

"To show such joyful gestures. Miss Rabbit must greatly anticipate attending the ball!"

'That's not it!'

While searching for an escape route, noise arose outside and the bedroom door opened. Recognizing the familiar voice, I immediately stopped running and collapsed. Thud, thud. An utterly ominous sound of footsteps approached.

"I greet Lord Iverin."

"Where is Miss Rabbit?"

"Until just now, happily jumping on the bed.... M-Miss Rabbit?!"

Startled by my limp state, Ulpes shrieked loudly. Then Iverin's calm voice flowed as if soothing.

"Recently when I appear, perhaps finding me tiresome, she always plays dead like this. Miss Rabbit, this Iverin is too sad. I even volunteered to escort you."

As expected, immediately upon entering, remarks grating on my nerves poked my ears.

What escort. Sprawled with all four paws out, I prayed for Iverin to leave quickly, only twitching my mouth.

Contrary to such wishes, slide—a presence approached from the side. Soon an utterly terrible voice passed my ear.

"Miss Rabbit, if you don't rise, I'll personally escort you with my mouth. Now, quickly enter my mouth. Ahh—"

Opening his mouth wide, Iverin's fangs gleamed right before me. A sight terrible enough to turn my complexion naturally deathly pale.

'Th-this...!'

Finally unable to endure, I shot up and struck his cheek with my hind paw. Thump. From the impact's aftermath, he sat down beside the bed, pretending shock.

"How could you commit such cruel violence?"

Being in tailcoat attire, holding his cheek with his hand looked quite refined. However, I mercilessly charged and clung to Iverin's sleeve, biting down.

"This speed and grip strength—Miss Rabbit definitely has fighter blood flowing."

'Be quiet!'

Seeing him say such things with an expressionless face made my blood boil. Two days ago Ahin swallowed my front paw—master and subordinate were no different.

I really hate these black panthers.

I'd grown stifling, so I poked my head out of Ahin's pocket. At this point, being transported tucked away in a pocket had become almost familiar.

I gazed up at his unusually radiant good looks today, then shot a glare at Iverin trailing behind. The anger from moments ago still hadn't faded.

"Lord Ahin, Miss Rabbit is glaring at me with sharp eyes."

"Vivi, glare at me too."

I wished this duo would just shut up. Irritation flared as I turned my gaze forward. I took a slow breath, and only then did the view come into focus.

'There's a separate ballroom.'

I'd thought I'd seen plenty during my garden walks, but the path we were currently traversing was unfamiliar. While the present situation was absurd, I was secretly curious—this was my first ball, after all.

'If Ahin comes with me, then what about Lady Valens's partner?'

Lost in thought, I suddenly wondered about Lady Valens's attendance. Perhaps as head of the family, she didn't need a partner.

Come to think of it, I hadn't seen Ahin's father once since arriving here. Reaching this rather unfortunate conclusion, I touched Ahin's jacket with a pitiful expression.

"Vivi?"

The predator territory was a place where anyone could die at any time. I felt oddly guilty for carelessly speculating about private pain.

Naturally, since my meaning couldn't be conveyed, Ahin's head tilted.

"What's wrong?"

"Perhaps she wishes to hurry along."

Iverin, be quiet. I pointed with my front paw, reproach loaded into the gesture, and he stroked his chin as if in agreement.

"To think she's learned how to give orders already. How moving."

Ah. If I engaged with him any further, stress would make my head ache. As I tucked my front paw back in and settled down, Iverin, who'd been glancing at me, spoke.

"Lord Ahin, may I inquire as to your reason for selecting Miss Rabbit as your partner?"

For once, a normal question emerged from that mouth. I also perked up my ears, secretly curious about the reason.

To specifically designate a rabbit as a partner among beastmen who'd all undergone humanization—even Iverin seemed to find that part difficult to understand.

"If you have a partner, it doesn't matter if you don't dance."

A clear answer, though it essentially amounted to declaring he'd slack off using the rabbit as an excuse.

Iverin and I simultaneously grasped this and sent incredulous looks. It was nearly the first time our minds had aligned.

The place we eventually reached stood before iron gates too magnificent to describe. The red velvet-covered doors seemed so massive, one wondered if even a beastman's strength could open them.

Unlike rabbit territory, rich in agricultural produce, black panther territory was said to overflow with wealth and riches—seeing these gates drove that fact home anew.

"We greet the future head of the family."

The knights who confirmed Ahin's identity opened the gates immediately, bypassing identity verification entirely.

As the interior was revealed, glittering chandeliers and countless beastmen came into view.

I stared blankly at the scene, then froze as a faint scent brushed my nose.

'Hey, you know what? I heard the young master of the Gleta family caught the eye of our fourth young miss.'

'What? Where?'

'Where else? At last month's banquet celebrating the head's birthday.'

Based on the maids' conversations that always followed balls, this place served as both a social venue and a matchmaking opportunity.

That's why everyone wore elaborate adornments and even released subtle pheromones. Pheromones could create a kind of sexual allure, after all.

So the current scent was nothing less than an amalgamation of the beastmen's faintly released pheromones. The moment I realized this, my chest began constricting as it had last time.

"In the future sovereign's pocket..."

"A doll, perhaps?"

"No, a living rabbit... I believe."

Murmurs grew thicker with each step Ahin took. Inside the ballroom, I felt I was receiving the most attention I'd ever gotten in my entire life.

While not overtly obvious due to Ahin's status, I could sense most gazes directed at me in his pocket.

In truth, the situation had gone thoroughly awry from the moment the doorman announced "Lord Ahin Grace and Miss Rabbit's entrance." Why on earth. He could have simply called Ahin's name, but no—he just had to.

Ahin must have ordered it. I could only sigh deeply while he cheerfully said, "Vivi, it's your first time seeing tiger clan, right?" and walked leisurely as though giving a predator tour.

'This bastard...'

Swallowing my bitter words, I cautiously poked out just my eyes and ears from the pocket. The ballroom was packed with beastmen who were obviously predators.

The bigger problem was that since entering this place, my stomach had been churning strangely. Though it wasn't unbearably nauseating.

Everyone else showed little reaction to the pheromones—was I the only odd one?

"Child."

Amid various thoughts, a languid yet quite welcome voice reached me.

'Lady Valens.'

She crossed through the layers of crowds, wearing a blue dress. I carefully scanned the surroundings, but as expected, no beastman who might be Ahin's father was visible.

Facing Lady Valens with her silver hair pinned up, I suddenly looked between her and Ahin alternately. This was the first time seeing them together, and comparing them now, their atmospheres seemed somewhat different.

"I heard you nearly met with disaster. I was out and only returned this morning, so I'm only seeing you now."

'Thank you for your concern.'

Unable to respond, I lifted my front paw from the pocket as a gesture of acknowledgment. She slowly approached and touched her finger to mine.

"Mother, you're too close."

As the distance grew quite near, a low voice rumbled from above.

"I don't particularly enjoy touching you either, Ahin. How could you let the wolf commit suicide? Poor handling of the matter."

"The location that permitted the wolf's intrusion was also your estate, Mother."

To outsiders they appeared to be smiling brightly, but the whispered conversation between the two beastmen was far from affectionate. It even felt like invisible sparks were flying.

'Are they... not on good terms?'

Alternating glances between them, I gave up trying to understand their feelings.

Lady Valens didn't seem inclined to scold Ahin for bringing me to the ballroom in the first place. Or perhaps she was accustomed to this level of eccentricity due to Ahin's temperament. It seemed closer to the latter.

"Child."

Apparently choosing to ignore him, Lady Valens pushed Ahin's shoulder aside with her fan and curved her eyes. Somehow it overlapped with the smile Ahin always wore.

"I personally hung the head of the wolf who pursued you at the front gate. It should serve as adequate warning."

'What?'

The content was utterly brutal, contrasting with her gentle expression. Her openly raised voice caused the surrounding beastmen to stir.

Soon murmurs of "So that was a wolf clan head... hanging on the iron bars" confirmed it as fact.

'At the front gate... a wolf's head at the front gate?'

She hung such a thing at a noble estate's entrance? Imagining the severed head dangling there, my complexion turned pale.

Moreover, because she'd phrased it as "the wolf who pursued you," the beastmen's gazes concentrated on me. In a way, it felt like a warning: mess with this rabbit, and you won't find it amusing.

The commotion grew oddly thick. Standing at the center of shocked stares, I wavered endlessly between gratitude and fear.

The evening banquet deepened. Many gazes lingered afterward, but the nobles dared not approach Ahin.

Was it because he'd spun around in circles as if waltzing with me to the melody? Or because he'd piled hay high on a banquet plate?

Those two things alone allowed one to predict the nobles were deliberately keeping their distance. I would have stayed far away too, sensing nothing good could come from association.

'This one's the real deal.'

To perform such eccentricities even at a ball—a gathering full of watching nobles. Perhaps what was spinning wasn't dancing, but Ahin's head.